The American Revolution
Tarring and Feathering: An American Tradition
As a ritual of political protest, tarring and feathering originated in the American colonies
in the late 1760s. Initially, the punishment was meted out against customs officers and
their informants, the men who helped collect taxes on imported goods. Later, after the
colonies implemented a series of boycotts, known as nonimportation and
nonconsumption campaigns, tar-and-feathers was used to intimidate persons who violated
those boycotts. After the destruction of the tea in December 1773, Boston leaders called
an end to tarring and feathering, so as not to bring the resistance movement into
disrepute. But elsewhere in the colonies, tarring and feathering continued. In 1775-1776,
tar-and-feathers was used to punish persons who opposed the Continental Congress or
spoke ill toward the cause of Independence.
The tables below are adapted from Benjamin H. Irvin, "Tar, Feathers, and the Enemies of
American Liberties, 1768–1776," New England Quarterly, 76 (June 2003), 197–238.
Questions for students:
How did the ritual of tarring and feathering change over time?
What persons were responsible for the tarring?
Whom, or what, were being tarred?
Why were they being tarred?
Where were they being tarred?
What does this changing ritual have to tell us about the American Revolution?
How did this ritual impact British perceptions of the Revolution, as manifest in political
cartoons on the subject?
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The American Revolution
Tarring and Feathering: An American Tradition
Table 1
Known Incidents of Tarring-and-Feathering in British North America, March 1766-November 1769
Date
Place
Person or Thing Tarred
Cause
Persons Responsible
March 1766
Norfolk,Va.
Captain William Smith
“All the principal
Gentlemen in Town”
June or July
1768
September
1768
7 September
1768
10 September
1768
September
1769
30 September
1969
October 1769
Salem, Mass.
Informant
Salem, Mass.
John Row, tidesman
(Thomas Rowe?)
Robert Wood
Customs
enforcement
Customs
enforcement
Customs
enforcement
Customs
Enforcement
Customs
enforcement
Customs
enforcement
Customs
enforcement
Customs
enforcement
Customs
enforcement
Customs
enforcement
Causing a
woman to be
harassed by
soldiers
11 October
1769
28 October
1769
November
1769
Salem, Mass.
Newburyport,
Mass.
New Haven,
Conn.
New York,
N.Y.
New York,
N.Y.
Philadelphia,
Pa.
Boston, Mass.
Joshua Vickery, Francis
Magno
Nathan Smith
Boston, Mass.
“Countryman”
Two Informers
Kelly, Mitchner, and
others
“Infamous informer”
George Gailer
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“Patriots”
“Principal people”
“Populace”
“Tars”
“Mob”
“Mob”
The American Revolution
Tarring and Feathering: An American Tradition
Table 2
Known Incidents of Tarring-and-Feathering in British North America, February-June 1770
Date
Place
21 February
1770
Boston, Mass.
23 March 1770
Gloucester,
Mass.
Boston, Mass.
18 May 1770
14 May 1770
5 July 1770
9 July 1770
June or July
1770
(threatened)
10 June 1770
(threatened on
5 July 1770)
Person or Thing
Tarred
The shop of
Theophilus
Lillie
Jesse Savil,
tidesman
Owen Richards,
tidesman
Cause
The house of
Edward Stow
Importing
Boston, Mass.
Patrick
McMaster
Importing
Marlborough,
Mass.
The horse of
Henry Barnes,
merchant
Importing
Persons Responsible
Importing
Customs
enforcement
Customs
enforcement
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Joseph Doble, mariner,
and “nearly 2,000”
people
Dr. Thomas Young
and “Mob”
The American Revolution
Tarring and Feathering: An American Tradition
Table 3
Known Incidents of Tarring-and-Feathering in British North America, December 1773-May 1774
Date
Place
Person or
Thing Tarred
Cause
Persons Responsible
December
1773
Boston,
Mass.
December
1773
(threatened)
25 January
1774
Boston,
Mass.
Colonel
Watson
Protesting Tea Party
Marblehe
ad, Mass.
Clarke and
others
Stealing clothes from a
smallpox hospital
“Mob”
25 January
1774
26 January
1774
(threatened)
May 1774
Boston,
Mass.
Boston,
Mass.
John Malcolm
Assaulting George
Robert Twelves Hewes
Shooting Christopher
Seider
“Mob”
Boston,
Mass.
The home of
George Erving
Identifying Tea Party
member
Ebenezer
Richardson
Importing
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“Mob”
The American Revolution
Tarring and Feathering: An American Tradition
Selected Incidents of Tarring-and-Feathering in British North America and the United
States, 1775-1783
Date
Place
Person or Thing
Tarred
Cause
Persons Responsible
8 June 1775
Charleston, S.C.
Laughlin Martin,
James Dealy
(John?)
Disrespect towards the
general committee
Secret Committee
Mid-1775
York, Pa.
York County committee of safety
24 July 1775
August 1775
(threatened)
August 1775
(attempted)
11 August 1775
(threatened)
12 August 1775
Savannah, Ga.
Philadelphia, PA
“Insulting Congress and its
measures”
“Offensive Toasts”
Suing a local committee
“Espousing strange
sentiments”
Identifying a militia fifer to
royal officials
“Wantonly Cursing &
abusing America”
“A great number of men, loaded
with arms”
September
1775
28 November
1775
16 March 1776
(threatened)
“early days of
the American
Revolution”
c. June 1783
Speaking against Congress
Women's quilting bee
"Petticoat Army"
Bladensburg, MD
John Hopkins
Isaac Hunt,
Dr. John Kearsley
George Munro
Virginia
John Schaw
Charleston, S.C.
Kinderhook, N.Y.
George Walker,
gunner of Fort
Johnson
A youth
Duchess Co., N.Y.
Edward Short
Stratford, Conn.
Richmond, Va.
Mrs. Edwards, a
new mother
A shoemaker
Refusing to sign
Association
Naming her
baby Thomas Gage
“King-worship”
New London, Conn.
Prosper Brown
Returning loyalist
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Sons of Liberty
“Freemen of the city”
Militia
The American Revolution
Tarring and Feathering: An American Tradition
Printed in England in 1774, this image depicted violent protests in the American colonies.
The image offers a medley of distinct historical events. In the background, the citizens of
Boston dump tea in the harbor. From the Liberty Tree hang a noose and also a copy of
the Stamp Act, upside down as a sign of derision. The Sons of Liberty force a tarredand-feathered tax man to drink tea. On the ground in the fore is a liberty cap atop a
liberty pole. What rank of men is committing the violent act? What does the cartoon
suggest about the nature of American resistance?
Image available: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgibin/query/i?pp/PPALL:@field(NUMBER+@band(cph+3a05133))
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The American Revolution
Tarring and Feathering: An American Tradition
A New Method of Macarony Making as Practiced at Boston (London, 1774). A
“macarony” is a fop or a dandy: an overly stylish man who pays too much attention to his
clothing. What new fashion is depicted here? What rank of men is committing the
violence? What other symbolism may be found in the image? Note: The “45” on the
Patriot’s cap represents issue #45 of the newspaper, The North Briton, published by the
outspoken radical John Wilkes. In issue #45, Wilkes criticized King George III and his
ministry, and after the King ordered him imprisoned, Wilkes became a hero to opposition
leaders in England and America. “Wilkes, Liberty and Number 45” became a popular
rallying cry. Image available: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgibin/query/D?ils:4:./temp/~pp_CDSY::@@@mdb=fsaall,app,brum,detr,swann,look,gottsc
ho,pan,horyd,genthe,var,cai,cd,hh,yan,bbcards,lomax,ils,prok,brhc,nclc,matpc,iucpub,tg
mi,lamb
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The American Revolution
Tarring and Feathering: An American Tradition
This simple image, which dates to the 1770s, depicts a Patriot with his tarred-andfeathered victim tied by the legs. Who has given the Patriot the idea to commit such an
act of violence? Image available: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgibin/query/D?ils:13:./temp/~pp_CDSY::@@@mdb=fsaall,app,brum,detr,swann,look,gott
scho,pan,horyd,genthe,var,cai,cd,hh,yan,bbcards,lomax,ils,prok,brhc,nclc,matpc,iucpub,t
gmi,lamb
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The American Revolution
Tarring and Feathering: An American Tradition
This broadside, or poster, appeared in Philadelphia in late 1773. The broadside was published by the mysterious “Committee for
Tarring and Feathering” as a warning to Delaware pilots, who were responsible for guiding trade ships from the Atlantic Ocean up the
Delaware River to Philadelphia. The committee admonished these pilots, on penalty of tar and feathers, not to steer ships loaded with
British tea up to market.
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The American Revolution
Tarring and Feathering: An American Tradition
Advertisements such as these occasionally appeared in the Boston newspapers in the early 1770s to remind townspeople not to cross
the Sons of Liberty. Are these advertisements funny? Scary? Both? Would you have been intimidated by this sort of tactic?
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